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(No Model.) V 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. B. HOLSON. ELECTRIC DEVICE FORHARNESS.

No. 452,571. Patented May 19,1891;

wne gy m (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

A. B. HOLSON. ELBGTRIG DEVICE FOR HARNESS.

Patented May 19,1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT B. HOLSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF THIRTY-SEVENFIFTIETHS TO ROBERT J. ZORGE AND S. WI-IIPPLE GEHR, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC DEVICE FOR HARNESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 452,571, dated May 19,1891. 7 Application filed October 6, 1890. Serial No. 367,202. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. HoLsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Devicesfor Harness, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electrical devices adapted to be combined withan ordinary one or two horse harness; and the object of my invention isto obtain a device whereby an electric shock may be given to the horsecarrying the harness to which the device is at tached whenever thedriver desires, thereby securing an electric spur or whip well adaptedto perform the functions of the spur or whip heretofore used, and alsosecuring a device wherewith the attention of a balking horse may bediverted and the horse started.

By my-device an electric shock'varying in intensity with the power ofthe battery employed, and also varying in regard to whether a primary orsecondary current is used to give the shock, can be given to either oneor both ofthe horses forming a span or' to a single horse by the driverupon and when such driver presses an ordinary electrical push-buttoncontained either in the lines forming the reins, upon the seat by theside of the driver, or any other position within the vehicle to whichthe horse or horses are hitched.

I have illustrated my invention by the drawings accompanying and forminga part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of ahorse wearing aharness to which my device is attached; Fig. 2, a diagramof driving-reins of adouble harness with my invention attached thereto;and Fig. 3, an end elevation of a harness-saddle having my devicesecured thereon; Fig. 4, a perspective. view of the bit and reins ofabridle, the two parts of the bit being electrically disconnected, withmy invention attached to the rings thereof; and Fig. 5, a crupper havingmetal plates thereunder and chains extending from such metal plates toelectric conducting wires in the reins with a push-button interposed onone of such wires.

the several views thereof.

A is a horse; B, a saddle to the harness; b b,

terrets on the saddle; C 0, metal plates secured to the under side ofthe saddle so as to come in contact with the horse when the saddle isplaced upon it; D D, rubber tubes'extending around the body of terrets19?), there by insulating the terrets from the metal plates often foundin harness-saddles and placed there as stifiening. Plates 0 C areelectrically connected with terrets b b, respectively.

E E are the reins of the harness, and e e e 6', Fig. 2, the lines in atwo-horse harness extending from the reins to the bits.

F is a battery, and f f wires extending from the battery to and throughthe coil G, thereby forming the primary coil of coil G.

H is the vibrating armature, ordinarily employed in obtaining anintermittent current, placed in front of coil G.

h h are the wires forming the secondary coil of coil G. WVires h hextend from the coil Gto chainsII, which chains pass through the terretsb b, lying loosely therein, but electrically connected therewith or tostrips of metal I 1 which are secured to the edges of the reins E E. Inone of the wires h h (in the illustration Iv have chosen wire h) apushbutton is interposed between the coil G and the plates 0 C, so thatthe circuit which would otherwise be formed from the coil to the plates,or one of them, through that part of the animals body between theplates, through the other plate, and back to the coil is broken exceptwhen the push-button is actuated by pressing upon it. Metal strip I andchains I I serve the same purpose and may be used interchangeably, andhereinafter I refer only to chains I I. The wires forming the primarycoil of coil G are electrically connected with wires hit, as illustratedby the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and having a switch interposed, (letteredK.) When switch K is open, the primary current cannot extend over wiresh h under any circumstances; but when the switch is'turned so that theend 7t thereof is in electrical contact with the end g of one of thewires f f a primary current will extend over wires 7:. l1 wheneverpush-buttons J J are actuated. 'hen the switch K is in the positionillustrated in Fig. 2, a secondary current extends over the wires h hupon the actuating of the push-buttons J J, respect ivcly. Ashereinbefore stated, the wires h. h

extending along each rein and sewed therein, and one of the wires havinga push-button interposed at some point between the coil G and chains I Ior plates 1 a shock can be administered to either or both of the horsesof a span.

When the device is attached to the reins of a single harness, the wire hextends along one of the reins and the wire 72/ extends along the other,and the push-button J is interposed on either wire.

In Fig. .3 is shown a 'plug switchboard, which in practice I use toallow the reins to be taken from the vehicle in the ordinary manner. IIis the switch-board, having sockets 7L2 7L and plugs 71" fittingtherein. The wires 71. h are cut, and one of the cut ends iselectrically secured to plugs it" h and the other to sockets h 71.respectively. \Vhen the plugs are inserted, the circuit is establishedin the manner described by pushing the button J or J, while if thehorses are detached from the vehicle and driven away from it withoutattention to the device secured to the reins the plugs will pull out ofthe sockets and no injury will be done to the device.

It will be observed that, the plugs being secured, respectively, towires h h, these plugs may be inserted in either of the sockets 7L2 his,care being required to have one of such plugs inserted in the socketelectrically connected with the positive pole of the battery orinduction-coil and the other to the negative pole thereof.

The battery, induction-coil, and plugswitchboard are all containedwithin the vehicle, but the particular position which such parts or anyof them occupy is of no consequence, and I have therefore notillustrated the ve hicle, simply showing the essential parts of mydevice.

It will be understood that if the chains are connected electrically withthe rings on each side of the bits, and such bits are made of somenon-conducting material, or if the two halves of the bit being made ofconducting material are "insulated from each other at their point ofjunction, the shock will be administered in precisely the same manner ashereinbefore described, but about the mouth of the animal. Ordinarily Iconsider this objectionable and do not usually so construct my device.In Fig. 4 this modification of my invention is illustrated, 71 h beingthe wires in the reins, L L the rings of the bit, with which rings thewires 72. hare respectively in electrical contact, M M the two parts ofthe bit and mm a rubber covering extending over the end of the parts M Mwhere such parts are joined, thereby electrically disconneeting theseparts.

The chains I I, I prefer to make of brass, bronze, or other ornamentalmetal, and such chains are made of sullicient length so that whetherreins E E are allowed to lie loosely upon the horses back or are drawntaut a portion of such chains will be contained in the terrcts Z) 1),respectively, and in electrical contact therewith. I have found bypractice that the metal plates C C, in combination with the saddle 13,will cause sullicient moisture in the hair of the horse so thatelectrical connection is established from plate C to plate C through theanimal.

The operation of my invention when attached to the reins of a singleharness and arranged in connection with the coil G, so that a secondarycurrent alone is employed, asillustrated in Fig. 1, is: Battery F ischarged and a circuit thereby established from one of the poles of thebatteryover wire f through the primary wire of coil G and back over thewire f to the other pole of the battery. A switch f may of course beinterposed between the battery F and coil G, but this switch is alwaysclosed when the device is in use. The wire h extends from coil G to thechain extending through one of the terrets of the harness, and wire 7Lextends to push-button J, and from thence to the chain passing throughthe other terret of the harness. \Vhen the push-button J is closed, acontinuous electrical circuit is formed along wire h, throughpush-button J, wire it, chain I, terret b to the metal plate underneaththe saddle. From thence the body of the animal forms the electricalconductor to the other metal plate C, which is electrically connected toterret b, and from' such terret b the electrical current may and doesextend to the chain passing through it to wire h in rein c and back tothe coil G. \Vhen, as in Fig. 2, it is arranged so that the secondarycurrent of electricity may extend along the wire it h and through thepush-buttons interposed therein (when such push-buttons are actuated)wheneverthe switch Kis in the closed position lliustrated in Fig. 2, thesame results are attained and in the same manner as in the arrangementillustrated in Fig.1 and last described. \Vhen, however, with the deviceillustrated in Fig. 2 it is desired to administer a shock by the primarycurrent, the end 7.: of switch K is brought into electrical contact withbutton 9 Upon pushing the button J the circuit is closed and a shockwill be ad ministered to the animal upon which is placed the saddle,through the terrets of which are passed the chains I I, and uponactuating button J the circuit is closed and a shock will beadministered to the animal upon which is placed the saddle, through theturrets of which are passed the chains I I. It will be observed that oneof the wires f f may be a continuous wire through the coil G ICC and theother wire may extend from the battery to the vibrating armature II andfrom thence through the coil G, both of such wires extending from thecoil G through the reins to the chains passing through the terrets, witha push-button interposed between the battery and the chains. Thisconstruction is illustrated in Fig. 2 by the battery F, wires f f coilG, switch K, wires h h, chains I I, and push-buttons J J. A primary coilis thereby formed. The chains I I are interposed between the wires h hand the terrets b b for appearance, and, if preferred, the wires h h mayextend from the reins E E to the terrets, sufficient slack being givento the wires to allow the reins to lie loosely upon the horses back orto be drawn taut; but in such case, in everything except ornamentalappearance, the portion of the wires from the reins to the terrets willbe the equivalent of the chains I I.

I have embodied my invention in a device wherein the metal plates aresecured to the crupper of the harness, with chains extending from theplates to the wires h h in the reins, and also with the wires from theplates extending directly into the vehicle without extending to thereins, but having a push-button interposed between the plates and theinduction-coil on one of the wires. \Vhere the wires are allowed toextend directly into the vehicle the appearance of double reins, which Ideem unsightly and undesirable, is produced, and I do not thereforeemploy this construction. Furthermore, I do not deem it advisable toplace the plates in the crupper of the harness, for the reason that Ihave found by practice that there is aliability and a tendency toproduce kicking in the animal, which liability, combined with therapidity of action engendered by the administration of theherein-described electric shock, tends to produce unpleasant not tosaydisastrous results.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a'crupper having a metal plate thereunderand chains electrically connected thereto and extending therefrom to thewires h h in the reins. In this figure, N is the crupper, O 0' metalplates secured to the crupper so as to come in electrical contact withan animal carrying such crupper, but not with each other, and P P thechains extending from .plates 0 0, respectively, to wires h h. I haveplaced these plates in the breast-plate and in the collar of theharness; but I find that when so placed the animal shrinks back from thecollar or breast-plate, particularly when the shock is beingadministered, at which time it is especially desirable that he moveforward, and for such reason I prefer not to embody my invention in suchconstruction. This form of construction in which the plates are put inthe breast-plate or collar of the harness is especially to be avoidedwhere the harness is to be applied to a balky horse, for which thedevice is particularly applicable and efficacious, forming an electricspur of easy application by the driver and to which the animal isreadily responsive.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is v 1. In an electrical devicefor harness, the combina ion of a battery, an induction-coil, sockets,wires extending from the inductioncoil thereto, plugs fitting thesockets, plates secured in the harness and resting upon the animalcarrying the harness, wires extending from the plugs to such plates, anda pushbutton interposed in one of the wires between the battery and theplates, whereby upon actuating the push-button an electrical circuit isformed, the body of the animal upon which the harness is placed forminga part of such circuit, and an electrical shock thereby given theanimal, substantially as described.

2. In an electrical device for harness,.the combination of a battery, aninduction-coil, terrets in the saddle of the harness, chains passingthrough such terrets and in electrical contact therewith, plateselectrically connected to the terrets and insulated from each other andsuch plates resting upon the animal carrying the harness, wiresextending from the induction-coil to and in electrical contact with thechains passing through the terrets thereof, and a push-button interposedin one of such wires between the battery and the chain, whereby uponactuating the pushbntton an electrical circuit is formed, the body ofthe animal upon which the harness is placed forming a part of suchcircuit, substantially as described.

3. In an electrical device for harness, the combination of a battery, aninduction-coil, wires extending from the batteryto the induction-coil, aswitch inserted in one of such wires, chains passing through the terretsof the harness-saddle, wires extending fromthe induction-coil along thereins of the harness to such chains and electrically connected thereto,plates electrically connected to the terrets, one to each terret, and apush-button interposed on one of such wires between the battery and thechain, whereby upon actuating the push button an electric circuit isformed, the body of the animal upon which the saddle of the harness isplaced forming a part of such circuit, and an electrical shock isthereby given the animal, substantially as described.

4:. In an electrical device for harness, the combination of chainspassing through the tenets of the saddle of the harness and inelectrical contact with such terrets, a battery, an induction-coil,wires, one of which extends from the battery to the induction-coil, andthe other of which extends from the battery to avibrating armature, andfrom thence to and through the induction-coil, both of such wiresextending from the induction-coil through the reins of the harness andelectricallyconnected to the chains passing through (He of the harnessis placed forming a part of the tenets of the saddle of the harness,such circuit, and an electrical shock is there- 10 plates electricallyconnected one to each terby given such animal, substantially as dei'et,and a push-button interposed on one of scribed.

5 such wires between the battery and. the ALBERT B. I-IOLSON.

chains, whereby upon the actuating of the In presence of push -button anelectric circuit is formed, FLORA L. BROWN,

the body of the animal upon which the sad- ALFRED B. VESTRUP.

